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The use of pesticides in agriculture also has undesirable effects on the environment
Photo: Harry Koerber / IMAGO
The use of pesticides and pesticides makes agriculture more productive.
But pesticides can have unwanted side effects: They can reduce biodiversity in fields and meadows, and unbalance ecosystems.
And they can endanger human health.
Environmental protection associations and political organizations are therefore calling for fewer pesticides to be sprayed around the world.
This emerges from the so-called »Pesticide Atlas 2022«, which the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Association for Pesticide Action Network, the Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation Germany and the magazine »Le Monde Diplomatique« have jointly published.
Four million tons worldwide
According to the report, sales of synthetic pesticides in Germany have been "largely unchanged" for decades: between 27,000 and 35,000 tons of pesticides are sold annually in this country alone, depending on the weather and the prices of agricultural products.
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According to the report, the use of pesticides worldwide has reached new highs: four million tons of pesticides are sprayed on fields, fields and meadows every year. This value is 80 percent above the level from 1990. About half of the funds used are aimed at combating weeds - then one speaks of herbicides. 30 percent were directed against insects - so-called insecticides. 17 percent of the agents are fungicides - agents that are supposed to kill fungi and fungal spores.
The World Food Organization estimates the increase in pesticide sales worldwide by 2018 to a third since 2000. In terms of arable land, use in Europe is constant, but in Asia and North and South America it grew strongly in the 2000s.
About twice as much pesticides are introduced there as in Europe.
Pesticides can also kill beneficial insects
The organizations involved are calling for the new federal government to "consistently" reduce and ban particularly toxic pesticides.
Germany is currently one of the largest pesticide exporters in the world with companies like Bayer and BASF.
"The loss of biodiversity worldwide, but also in Germany, is dramatic and can only be stopped if the use of agricultural toxins is significantly reduced," said Olaf Band, chairman of the Association for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany.
The use of pesticides is recognized as a major cause of the decline in species.
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According to the report, the active ingredients from pesticides do not only have an effect where they are applied: They could seep away and blow away, and in some cases they can still be detected at a distance of 1,000 kilometers.
And human health can also suffer from the high use of pesticides: The number of people affected by pesticide poisoning each year has risen to 385 million worldwide, according to the »Pesticide Atlas«.
A small part of this poisoning is fatal.
In Germany, food is also treated with pesticides: According to the report, apples are sprayed particularly frequently, between 20 and 30 times per season.
Wine, hops and potatoes are also among the crops that are particularly frequently treated with pesticides.
Approval from the Federal Environment Minister, criticism from agricultural associations
The Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) also commented on the use of pesticides and announced that they would significantly reduce their use.
The government wants to achieve this goal “together with the farmers”.
This requires financial incentives and changes in regulatory law.
"If the ecosystems are disturbed, it also ends up harming us humans," said Lemke.
In addition, the environment minister warned against insect deaths due to the use of pesticides.
The German Farmers' Association announced that they would work to further reduce the use of pesticides in Germany.
An ideology-free and technology-open discussion is necessary for this.
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However, the Agricultural Industry Association reacted critically to the report.
The publication was a "distorted picture of crop protection in agriculture," it said.
The specified corridor for the sales volumes of pesticides is correctly reproduced, but sales in Germany have been declining since 2017.
In 2020, the sales volume was 27,813 tons, as the association announced, citing the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food.
"The atlas does not provide any answers to the question of how to resolve the conflicting goals of food security and ecology," the association continued.
The Agricultural Industry Association represents companies such as BASF and Bayer, which are among the four largest pesticide manufacturers in the world.
vki / dpa / AFP